A: One One 7 is an international entertainment company with offices in the US, UK, Canada, and South Korea. We are also a full service artist development company specializing in the creation and execution of a product. We represent over 150 of the industry’s top hit songwriters, producers, actors, photographers, and video directors. One One 7 also has a licensing division where music is shopped to television and film.

Q: What is your professional background?

A: I have over fifteen years of experience in the entertainment industry. I started out as an award winning songwriter, and eventually pursued the business as a manager, A&R executive, TV producer, and an entertainment consultant. In the early stages of my career, I secured record deals with some of the largest music companies in the world, including Capitol Records, Sony, Interscope, Island / Def Jam, Epic, Atlantic, RCA, and J Records. Between 2007 and 2011 I also served as the Senior Vice President of CTK Management, who represents Dolly Parton.

Q: What inspired you to start you own company?

A: To start, I was inspired to start One One 7 because of my love for music and my passion for developing talent. Unfortunately in this industry there are people and companies that are really only concerned with making money; they couldn’t care less about the artist and the product. I was inspired to start One One 7 because I believe in passionately fighting for quality. Our team is dedicated to serving our clients and fighting for them every single day to create opportunities for them to succeed.

Q: How did you go about convincing your old clients to come along with you to the new company?

A: We work very hard to maintain close working relationships with all of our clients. The artists I have been working with for years are loyal and they followed my career transitions. It didn’t take much convincing.

Q: What are some common mistakes actors make when first publicizing themselves?

A: Good question. I find most aspiring talent in general whether it be recording artists or actors tend to get caught up working with the wrong people and following the wrong advice. Your team and their track record is vital to your success in this business. Also, over the years I’ve seen talent not put enough focus and work into the quality of what they’re presenting to the public or to executives. There needs to be a high level of dedication and effort put into their craft and product.

Q: How do you go about getting a song placed in a film or on a show?

A: The key to getting a song placed in TV or film is to promote the song as much as you can independently and gain as much exposure as possible. Submitting your song to various non-exclusive synch companies is a great way to increase the chances of getting placed. One One 7 also has a licensing division and we shop our client’s music to TV and film for placement opportunities.

Q: What do you look for in a client?

A: Passion, hardworking, likability, persistence, loyal, and talent.

Q: What is the most original thing you have seen someone do to break into show business?

A: That’s a tough one! I’d say as of recent the most original thing I’ve seen is PSY’s “Gangnam Style.” The dance was original and it caused a worldwide firestorm. You can’t argue with 2 billion YouTube views!

Q: What would you change about the entertainment industry?

A: Top 40 radio playlists used to be localized. Now when you turn on the radio, the networks are completely nationalized. You hear the same programming no matter where you are in the country. Radio is no longer a tool that can break a local artist because of this. I’d also like to see young artists focusing on the craft of songwriting and performance rather than trying to manufacture popularity online. The internet is an incredible tool for promotion. However, at the end of the day if you can’t emulate the sounds on your record when you perform live and you can’t draw an audience to a show, that popularity and amount of “likes” on Facebook really doesn’t mean anything. There is not enough emphasis on the craft.

Q: You have some major actors on your roster. What’s the difference between promoting a famous person and promoting an obscure person; Amber Riley vs. me for example.

A: Promoting a famous person is always easier being that people are familiar. Working with someone who is unknown is always a grueling process in the beginning. It’s a fight in the beginning, but we like the fight because it’s a high risk high reward challenge.

Please note; Eliza’s interviews are done by email. All answers are unedited and come right from the lovely fingertips of her subjects:)

One thought on “An Interview With One One 7 Owner Jason Davis”

My 15 year old daughter auditioned for Jason Davis of OneOne7.com. After much research and discernment, I found out that Mr. Davis has very questionable credentials. I called several record companies and no one knows him. I tried to verify the movies he claimed to be involved with and unfortunately, no one knows him or his company, One One 7 or Fahrenheit Media. The songwriters on his site; most of the ones I called, did not give him permission to use their image and likeness. Neither did Taylor Swift, Tori Kelly, U2, Justin Beeber; but their pictures were on his site making it look very authentic. I’m not positive he is who he says he is. He eventually offered us a package to get my child started in the business for $100,000. And he asked it be wire transferred. This all sounded very obscure. My husband immediately said no. We spent lots of our money preparing our child for this audition and traveling to Florida to meet with Mr. Davis. However, $100,000 ? No thank you! Do your homework!